The Summit on Animal Injury Prevention was held in Beijing on 25 December.
About 40 million people in my country get bitten by cats and dogs every year.
Animal injuries have become a common problem in emergency surgery, with less than 40 million people being bitten by cats and dogs and more than 300,000 by snakes every year.
In addition to causing tissue damage, the expert described other serious consequences such as bacterial, viral infections, poisoning and allergic shock. For example, the most common cat and dog bite injuries can cause rabies and tetanus if treatment is irregular. Deaths due to rabies are close to 100 per cent. Viper bites, bee stings and ant stings cause poisoning and severe allergies.
At present, a number of health-care facilities at the grass-roots level, especially in remote areas, have insufficient experience with animal injuries and treatment, have irregular medical treatment, have a high rate of errors and omissions, and there is an urgent need to improve the standardisation and homogenization of animal injuries.
The Ombudsman of the Medical and Administrative Department of the National Commission on Health and Health (CNSH) has further strengthened the system for the prevention and treatment of animal injuries by promoting the establishment of standardized emergency animal injuries, helping to improve the level and capacity of treatment in less developed regions at the grass-roots level, and providing the general public with knowledge and knowledge of the right methods for the prevention of animal injuries and tetanus. How can tetanus and rabies be avoided after animal injuries? In August this year, the National Board of Health and Health issued Guidelines for the Treatment of Common Animal Injuries, which cover 14 types of animal injuries and rabies, including dogs, cats and snakes. At the Forum, experts reminded that injuries caused by animals such as dogs and cats should be treated in a timely manner in hospitals and vaccinated in time to avoid tetanus and rabies. Experts cautioned against too close contact with pets such as cats and dogs and, in particular, not allowing pets to lick human mouths, eyes, etc. In the case of a bite by an animal such as a cat or dog, the first time the wound is washed with a physical salt water or fresh water.
Deputy Director of Emergency Services at the North Great People's Hospital, China Medical Aid Association Experts believe that, once injured by animals at higher risk of rabies transmission, even if only mucous membranes are exposed, there is a need for regulated wound treatment and rabies vaccination. Possibilities for rabies are usually one to three months. Almost 100 per cent of rabies can be prevented after injuries to animals are properly prevented. Animal injuries should also be prevented by tetanus. Tetanus is an acute, mesotoxic disease characterized by sustained direct constriction and tremors of the whole skeletal musculoskeletal muscle caused by the penetration of tetanus through skin or mucous membrane wounds. Severe tetanus patients can suffer asphyxia, lung infections and organ failure, with a global rate of death ranging from 30 to 50 per cent even after active treatment. Tetanus vaccination is the most effective and economical way to prevent tetanus.
Vice-President of the Society for the Rescue of Animal Injuries and Rehabilitation of the Chinese Medical Association Prevention through vaccines can provide protection to the human body for at least 5 to 10 years. For populations with high exposure to tetanus, we recommend preventive vaccinations before injury. We call pre-exposure immunization. For those injured or sick who do not have pre-exposure vaccinations, tetanus vaccinations should be delivered in a timely manner to medical institutions after injury. The number of rabies in our country drops by about 20 per cent a year. Journalists were informed by the Chinese Summit on Animal Injury Prevention and Control that, in recent years, our efforts to combat rabies have been stepped up, that the number of reported cases of rabies has continued to decline at around 20 per cent a year and that more than 20 provinces have reported cases to zero or single digits, which has laid the foundation for the elimination of rabies in our country. Monitoring data show that 202 cases of rabies were reported nationwide in 2020, affecting 143 districts, down 94 per cent from the peak of 3,300 in 2007 and 86 per cent from 984 districts. There are more than three cases of rabies: more cases in rural areas, which account for more than 65 per cent of all cases; more than twice as many cases among men as among women; and more cases among children under 15 years of age and persons over 50. The proportion of rabies caused by dogs is about 95 per cent, the number of people treated annually for rabies prevention by animal injuries exceeds 10 million and the cost of medical treatment of rabies, immunoglobins and wounds exceeds 7 billion yuan annually. Research by WHO has shown that rabies can be effectively cut off from transmission by reaching over 70 per cent of dog immunization coverage in one area.
The Deputy Director of Emergency Care at the North Great People's Hospital, Vice-President of the Animal Harm Unit of the Chinese Medical Rescue Society, Wang Lin: We are required by law to have frequent contact with civilized dogs in high-risk areas, especially with high-risk populations, children, the elderly and animals, and I recommend that they be given an early vaccination, and that we vigorously promote the vaccination of dogs. If an animal, especially a dog, has received two or more qualified veterinary vaccines, then we believe that the animal is safe and that it will not normally have a disease.